Saturday, October 07, 2006 Nalzaro: Ermita still a drug haven By Bobby Nalzaro
ERMITA Barangay Captain Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta strongly defended the barangay’s Sangguniang Kabataan chairman, Carl Magno Tude, who has been linked to the illegal drugs trade. Rupinta said he can vouch for Tude’s integrity and is willing to resign from his post if the youth leader is found positive for drug use in a drug test.
A police team nabbed Tude during a buy bust operation inside their residence in Ermita. His mother was the target but she was not around at that time.
Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch operatives claimed Tude gave a pack of shabu to their househelp, who in turn handed it to a member of the raiding team posing as a buyer. Tude then got the buy bust money.
I think Rupinta is barking up the wrong tree. If he wants to quit, he should do so without imposing any condition. After all he has failed to stop the illegal drug trade in his barangay.
Before he opens his mouth, Imok should consider these points:
One, Tude was arrested in a buy bust operation, not in a pot session or with the drug in his possession. So, how can he be tested positive for illegal drug use?
Besides, it does not follow that a drug pusher is also a drug user. And under the Dangerous Drugs Law, pushing is a graver offense than drug possession and thus carries a heavier penalty.
Two, it has been six days since Tude was arrested. So even if he will submit himself to a drug test, the possibility that he will be found positive for drug use is already remote. Experts say the presence of illegal drugs in the human body can only be detected within 73 hours, especially if the examination is based on urine samples.
But what caught my attention was Rupinta’s claim that they have reduced the number of persons involved in the illegal drug trade in his barangay. He said that before he assumed the post in the ‘90s, a total of 176 drug peddlers were listed. Now, the entry in that list has been reduced to three.
If this is true, then this is something for the books. Imok should share his anti-drug campaign strategy with other barangay officials so they can adopt it.
How was he able to reduce the number of drug peddlers? Through aggressive police action? By eliminating them? Giving them alternative livelihood?
But I doubt if what Rupinta claimed is true. Cebu City Councilor Augustus Pe Jr., who is in the frontline of the city's anti-drug campaign, said the illegal drug trade is still rampant in Ermita.
